Donald Trump fire back at British Prime minister Theresa May over her criticism of his far right retweets
In rare clash between allies, US president tells May to focus on terrorism rather than on him but sends the tweet to the wrong person.
Donald Trump has publicly rebuked Theresa May over her criticism of anti-Muslim propaganda, opening an extraordinary diplomatic spat between the transatlantic allies.
“Theresa @theresamay, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom,” the US president tweeted on Wednesday evening. “We are doing just fine!”
Trump’s message came in response to criticism from the British prime minister’s spokesman over his retweeting of incendiary videos posted by the deputy leader of a British far-right group.
However, the “@theresamay” Twitter handle that Trump targeted does not belong to Theresa May, the British prime minister, but a woman called Theresa Scrivener. Minutes later Trump deleted and reposted the tweet, this time with the correct handle: @Theresa_May.
The spokesman insisted: “The president has the greatest respect for the British people and for Prime Minister May.”
Trump’s new salvo echoed his criticism in June of London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, after seven people were killed and 48 injured in a terror attack in the city. Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a western European capital city, hit back on that occasion and tweeted on Wednesday: “Britain First is a vile, hate-fuelled organisation whose views should be condemned, not amplified.”
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